If we do not tax robots, then income inequality will grow, because the share of national income going to labor will fall and.If we do not tax robots, then government revenues will decline, because few people will be working.Robot taxers make three main arguments in support of their position: One can barely go a week without reading yet another article or comment on the topic. Since then, the calls for taxing those job-killing robots have become a veritable tidal wave. Or, as the advocates say, “It’s time to tax the robots.” This idea has been around for a while, and gained considerable traction in 2017 when Microsoft founder Bill Gates argued, “At a time when people are saying that the arrival of that robot is a net loss because of displacement, you ought to be willing to raise the tax level and even slow down the speed of that adoption somewhat.” After all, as a technology pioneer and billionaire, Bill Gates is anything but a tinfoil-hat-wearing Luddite. In the subcategory of science, technology, and innovation policy, there is no better case in point than today’s increasingly popular view that governments should increase taxes on capital equipment. Once this critical point of no return is reached-when “everyone” knows something is true-policymakers have only a short distance left to travel to turn what appears to be an inspired analysis into actual law. Then comes a wave of articles, speeches, blogs, op-eds, and of course TED Talks, all providing supporting “evidence” and arguments for why the initial idea is the “best thing since sliced bread.” Voila: What begins as a loopy, even harmful, idea is now all the rage. In the first phase of this process, someone-often a person of some notoriety, but not necessarily expertise-puts forth a new idea or claim, which is then amplified by a media increasingly focused on marketing the next new thing. A disturbing trend in the world of public policy in recent years has been the extent to which fads and groupthink now shape public debates and galvanize support for ill-advised ideas and proposals.
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